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Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 Hello friends of Central College Abroad! This newsletter, released the second Tuesday of every month, is intended to keep you in touch with what’s happening with Central College Abroad’s programs across the globe.
Attention Advisors and Students! The application deadline for spring is THIS WEEK! All application materials including transcripts, essay and recommendation forms are due by Thursday, Oct. 15, for spring 2010 programs. We understand that the current economic times may have you worried about the cost of study abroad. Central College offers a handful of scholarships that can help. The Vance Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship awarded to students from cooperating schools with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. There are also other scholarships available. To learn more, visit: http://www.central.edu/abroad/finances/scholarships.cfm 100% Participation in internships and service-learning in Merida, Mexico Internships and service-learning are an integral part of Central College Abroad programming. In service-learning options, students connect meaningful community service experiences with academic learning, reflection, personal growth and civic responsibility. This semester, 100% of students on the Merida, Mexico program are doing service-learning or an internship for academic credit. The Merida program offers unique and inspiring placements where students can focus on the needs of the host community while interacting with locals and strengthening language skills. Here we highlight Liz Urban and her internship at a community outreach program. Who: Liz Urban
Where did you intern: For Nutre y Mueve tu Vida! It’s an organization in Merida that does outreach programs on educating the citizens about diabetes and healthy lifestyles. I did research on diabetes that helped the organization in gathering materials for their monthly publications, and also worked at community health fairs that taught exercises, healthy eating, diabetes testing and information. We taught them prevention is key to a healthy lifestyle. Two amazing opportunities I was able to participate in was the Carnival parade over several days during February, and also teaching aerobics to middle-aged Mexican women in dresses who have never seen or experienced aerobics before! How going abroad will help in the future: I loved doing community outreach to educate people about diabetes and how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Diabetes is so common in Mexico, and so many of the citizens don't receive proper medication and do nothing to prevent diabetes in their lives. It was a perfect fit for my major because I really was promoting health. I enjoyed using my Spanish skills and teaching them some American ways of thinking in regards to exercise and healthy lifestyles. I learned how much diabetes affects the Latino population and how exercise is not something that is really taught in some cultures. I hope this can help me in my career with internship possibilities in organizations similar to Nutre, because community outreach really can educate people in so many ways. To better understand the importance of Liz’s service-learning placement, here is a link to a map which re-sizes the world based on the population effected by diabetes. You’ll notice that Mexico’s size is inflated. http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=239# New Assistant Director in London Central College Abroad welcomes Beth Downes, the new assistant director of the London program. As part of her role, Beth will manage the internship placement — London has over 100 placements available for students. Pengyou program--Language and culture exchange in Hangzhou, China Studying abroad with Central is more than just living in a different country; students have the ability to integrate themselves with the local culture. In Hangzhou, China, students take part in the “Pengyou” program, which literally translates into “friend.” The program introduces Central students to Chinese students, allowing interaction and experience that might otherwise seem impossible as well as aide abroad students in practicing the Chinese language. Name: Robert Grimm What is the Pengyou program in Hangzhou: How has the Pengyou program shaped your experience abroad?
To learn more about the Pengyou program visit http://www.central.edu/abroad/hangzhou/
Eric Sneddon, director of international operations for Central College Abroad, has resigned his position effective Oct. 31, 2009. Eric successfully led Central’s London program for seven years before moving into his current position one year ago. Eric’s dedication, kindness, professionalism and sense of humor will be missed. Central College Abroad to attend Global Health Consortium As the world’s borders are broken down and we become increasingly interconnected, multidisciplinary approaches to solving the world’s problems must be initiated. The Global Health Consortium seeks to bring people together in order to heighten awareness for the cause of global health. Des Moines University took this idea and made it a staple of their current pedagogical interests, teaming up with six other Iowa colleges and universities to collaborate and better enhance global learning experiences. The seven schools making up the Heartland Global Health Consortium are: Central College, Drake University, University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University, Simpson College and Des Moines University. Central College Abroad is an active collaborator in this project. Central hosted a strategic planning meeting for the consortium at our Merida, Mexico program site, where Resident Director, Valerie Grimsley, organized excursions for the participants to engage in constructive observation of the health care system in Merida. Dr. Anya Butt, participant of the Merida meeting, said,“ The Merida trip was an opportunity for us to have a lot of dedicated time to talk about what we wanted the strategies to be, basically develop strategic planning, set long term goals, set short term goals, and make people personally responsible for getting them done.” The meeting was also a bonding experience for the members of the consortium. “Now that we know each other a little bit better, it’s much easier to call somebody up and say, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about doing a project on…’ The better you know people, the easier it is to be efficient,” says Dr. Butt.
So, why is global health important? According to Dr. Butt the answer is obvious. “Just look at a disease like SARS - it may have originated in China but has infected people globally. And more recently H1N1, it may have originated in Mexico, but something like 13,000 kids stayed home from school last week.” The Heartland Global Health Consortium seeks to provide awareness for these global diseases in order to better serve the global community. On October 14, 2009, Des Moines University will host a Global Health Conference with keynote speakers U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, as well as Dr. William Foege, Senior Fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. To learn more about Global Health and the October 14th conference, visit: http://www.heartlandconsortium.org/ Going green in Vienna The green initiative doesn’t stop when you go abroad! Students have opportunities to work with green initiative companies overseas through an internship or service-learning experience. Service-learning is a way for students to engage in a more in-depth cross-cultural experience, connecting the students to a meaningful service opportunity in the community. Aside from working for an honorable cause, students also get academic credit and priceless work experience. Here is one student’s story who worked for a green initiative company while studying abroad: Who: Patrick Schacherer Internship Job: My internship abroad was with the Central European branch of Greenpeace, an environmental organization that emphasizes non-violent activism and protests. My specific job was working on a consumer protection Web site and updating it twice weekly. The Web site's purpose was to let consumers know about the environmental impact of a number of products.
How going abroad has helped: While Greenpeace was a great experience within itself, I think that the experience of living in Vienna had just as much of an impact on my environmental attitude. Living in a city that values air quality, water quality and public transportation opens your eyes to what a "green" city looks like. Many of Central’s study abroad programs have internship or service-learning opportunities in the area of environmental studies. Currently, there are opportunities on the Vienna, London, Merida, Leiden and Wales programs. Learn more about internships and service-learning on our Web site.
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DATES TO REMEMBER October 15, 2009 November 1, 2009 March 1, 2010 March 15, 2010 EVENTS Save the date!
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Director of International Operations resigns
